A Broken Heart
by ChickenDeNoodleyNoodleIII
Summary: 5 years ago, Naruto died, leaving Hinata widowed before they were even married. The day after the anniversary of his death, two strangers show up at the gates of Konoha, one of them riding on a nine tailed fox...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, Chicken's back with a brand new story. This one is also about Naruto dying, but hey, read it, he doesn't just die. I won't give away any plot. And people, please tell me if my story sucks or needs correcting, because for once, I've found an actual story that I really enjoyed writing, and I mean enjoyed. Because for once, I'm actually adding a named OC, and I rather like the little guy (snicker). This OC also happens to be loosely based on me, the author, and what I would be, and what I'd like to be, in anime, or real life. And any further stories I write will also show appearances of me and this character. **

**Lee: YOSH! Your youthful exuberance shows again, youthful Chicken! We await your excellent stories!**

**Gai: LEE! Another youthful idea! Let's sell his stories on E-bay, like we did with his house, and his family, and his dog, and his cat, and his chickens, ducks, turkeys, Game Cube, PS2, Xbox, computer, laptop, soul, elves, trees, cars, countries, board game, 2 trolls and an orc! I can't believe how much stuff we've sold of his! All we haven't sold is the clothes off his back and that 24 karat diamond kitchen sink of his.**

**(They both throw mischievous glances at me)**

**Chicken: Ohhh no… not the sink, anything but the sink! Take my clothes! Take 'em! Here's my shirt, my pants, my socks, EVERYTHING! Just leave me the sink!**

**(As I lay there naked, a thought comes to me)**

**Chicken: I'll just go kill a yak, and all my troubles'll be over… clothes, diamond sink, high-protein milk… yeah, life is good.**

**And so, ON WITH THE FICTION AND PLEASE READ ALL THE WAY THROUGH!**

It had been five years. Five long years, and tonight was the anniversary of Naruto's death. Everyone in the village gathered around the Naruto Memorial, located on top of the Hokage Mountain. Naruto had long ago earned their respect by not only single handedly destroying the Akatsuki, nearly killing himself in the process, and somehow returning Shukaku to Sabaku no Gaara. The biggest thing to earn their respect and gratitude though, was returning Sasuke to Konoha, and after they had heard what had happened to Naruto that fateful day, their respect for him grew.

Then, and then, oh the heroic deed that he did. Sacrificing himself to not only save Konoha, but all of the other countries as well, by destroying the demi-god that Orochimaru had become.

All of his friends stood at the front of the gigantic crowds, always surprised that every year, the people who once hated him, despised him, spat on him, would come to the memorial to mourn.

The great bon-fire that roared 30 feet in the air, lit up the smiling visage of the fifty foot tall statue. They had carved it in the form of Naruto standing, holding a bowl of ramen, scratching the back of his head while holding onto a pair of chopsticks. And another part of the statue, that not all of the younger generation fully understood it's significance, was the nine-tailed fox that wrapped itself around his feet.

Konohamaru sighed, hugging Hanabi tighter to his chest as she cried. Ever since his death, Konohamaru had matured from the short, annoying, hero-worshipping honorable grandson into the taller, braver, hero-worshipping Jonin that he was now. He had started dating Hanabi when they were fifteen. Though she had seemed almost reluctant to date him, she realized that he was one of the only people to actually appreciate _her_, not just her skills. She looked up from his soaked shirt, and threw a glance at Sakura, who was being held by Lee, who in turn was being held by Gai.

As disturbing as the sight of two grown men holding each other, wearing green spandex no less, she couldn't help but feel a little pity for Sakura. She had taken it the hardest. Once Naruto had given up his child-like crush on her, they became closer then they had ever been, being almost better than brother and sister.

Though of course Sakura wondered what had taken Naruto's attention away from her, and had told him this herself, and in front of a large group of people, mostly Hyuugas. Naruto had blushed, stuttered, stalled, diverted, eluded, and just plain avoided an answer, until Sakura grew irritated enough to beat it out of him. It was then that Naruto embarrassedly confessed to be secretly dating Hinata. Fortunately, the Hyuugas had been of the branch family, and became only moderately psychotic at this confession. Neji had stood up, cracking his knuckles, and declared that Naruto had to "prove that he was worthy". Naruto had proved it, and proved it well. Unfortunately, he still had half of the branch family utterly pissed at him, and was schooled utterly and completely. Hanabi gave a slight smile, remembering that day when she had walked into the large restaurant that was near the Hyuuga compound, finding a small crowd of branch Hyuugas standing around a half-dead Naruto. Hanabi hadn't found out the reason for the beating until a year after, when Naruto had walked up to Hyuuga Hiashi, and asked him for Hinata's hand in marriage. Hiashi, however, felt that his daughter marrying jinchuuriki scum was beneath the Main house, and promptly told him so. Naruto had asked again a year later. Hiashi turned him down again, and the process was repeated several times over several years until Hiashi finally decided that they could be married on one condition, that he was able to beat Hiashi. Naruto and Hinata were twenty when they announced their engagement.

Speaking of her sister, Hanabi looked around, trying to find her. They too had grown closer over the years. Not finding her from her position wrapped around Konohamaru, she let go, and began walking around, trying to find her quiet sister. She always, _always_ came here, especially today of all days.

"Hanabi-Chan, what are you doing?" Konohamaru asked, grasping Hanabi's hand as she searched the clearing around the statue, looking into the crowd here and there, seeing pairs of white eyes here and there, but never the right ones.

"Hinata-neechan isn't here." Hanabi said, growing more worried. She walked over to Sakura, and told her the problem. Sakura became as worried as Hanabi and gathered up the former Rookie 9 to help. Whispers ran through the crowd as everyone wondered where Hinata was.

Hinata however, was not even in the crowd. In fact, she wasn't even on the mountain. She was sitting in Naruto's old apartment, which was now hers, looking in the bathroom mirror, contemplating her life. She was supposed to be married four years ago. She and Naruto had been planned there marriage to be on Hinata's twenty-third birthday. The wedding never came. All because of the snake. She had been there; she had watched her love die. Tears coalesced in her eyes as she looked at herself, remembering what had happened that day…

"What are you doing, foolish boy?" Orochimaru said, grinning, as Naruto clamped onto his back. Naruto wrapped his arms under the sannin's and behind his head, putting Orochimaru into a Full Nelson.

"I'm killing you." Naruto said grimly, as a red chakra began to engulf them.

"Ha. I'd like to see you try, boy." The Snake Sanin said, his wicked smirk growing wider. But fear entered his eyes, as his super-human strength could not break the fox's hold. He attempted to wrap his tongue around Naruto's neck, but it was engulfed and burned away by the demonic chakra.

His fear became terror as he felt a change come over his captor. He heard clothing tear, as all of the sudden he was lifted off the ground. A reddish snout protruded from the boy behind him as dark red fur began to cover his body. Orochimaru watched the fur rise from the boy's arms, tightening their clamp on his shoulders as his muscle mass increased too. He felt stabbing pain as the hands on the back of his head transformed into claws. Nine tails suddenly wrapped themselves around the Sanin's body, making Naruto's hold even greater, rendering Orochimaru almost completely immobile. Orochimaru could feel the claws on the back of his head move, forming hand signs painstakingly slow.

"Wha… What are you doing fool!" Orochimaru screamed at Naruto, his tongue regenerating.

"I told you. I'm killing you, permanently." The now fully-transformed demon vessel growled. After two minutes of slow, slow hand signs, his hands finally stopped on the Sign of the Tiger. Orochimaru, recognizing the hand signs and realizing what Naruto was about to do, he laughed.

"Fool! You can't kill a god! And if you use _that_ kinjutsu and somehow _do_ manage to kill me, you're dying too!"

"I know." He said grimly, as he opened his fox-like maw. He clamped down on the back of Orochimaru's neck, making him howl in pain. Through the snake's hair, he muffled…

**"HOKAGE NO JUTSU!" **(Fire Shadow Technique)

Orochimaru screamed as both he and Naruto were engulfed in a ball of flames. The ball began to shrink, making him scream even more, as they were compressed into a meter-diameter ball. The ball exploded in a bright flash of light, consuming the room and half of the Snake Sannin's hidden Otogakure Compound in a gigantic pillar of fire, stretching far into the sky, visible from Suna and Konohagakure. After the flash, the sound of the explosion followed.

Gaara had been feeling a familiar chakra building for the last few minutes, and he began to search through the compound, crushing and blowing away any sound-nins that got his way. He felt the familiar chakra growing still, when he realized that it was youki, demonic energy. Only one other person in this compound could possibly posses this powerful of youki, in these almost impossibly large amounts… _Naruto!_ Gaara was about to start running, when…

**_BOOOOM!_** Gaara, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Sakura, and a small force from Konoha, all fell, being in different parts of the non-destroyed compound. Gaara, embarrassed at being knocked off of his feet, blew through a wall with his sand, trying to find the source of the explosion. He noticed the disappearance of the Kyuubi's chakra, and he couldn't find Naruto's chakra anywhere. He blew through several more walls, passing some extremely surprised sound-nins, a small group of Konoha-nin, Sakura, and a room full of computers and T.V. screens. After six or more so walls, he finally broke through the final wall, and came across the smoldering ruins that were the other half of Orochimaru's compound.

The sheer force of the explosion had blown out the flames, but there was still an insane amount of heat being given off, enough to where Gaara's searching sands where glassed as they passed over. He felt a presence next to him.

Hinata was kneeling next to him, a look of desolation and hopelessness as she looked at the scene before her, realizing what Naruto had done.

"What happened?" She whispered, her lips barely moving, tears beginning to run down her face. Gaara looked down at her; an unfamiliar feeling of pity began to grow in his chest as he watched the girl next to him.

"What happened!" She said, looking at Gaara, pleading him to tell her that what lay in front of was a lie. He just looked down at her, the feeling of pity growing.

"What happened to my fiancé, dammit!" Hinata screamed, pounding on his leg. This surprised Gaara, surprised him so much that his sand didn't even move. He just let her kneel there punching his leg, tears streaming down her face as she screamed.

"Dear god in heaven." Came a voice behind them. They both turned to face Shikamaru, who was standing in the hole in the wall behind them. They could see both Sound and Leaf nins standing behind him, vying for a better position to see what had happened.

"What is it? What happened?" they could here Sakura's voice behind the crowd. Gaara watched as a pink head of hair began to force itself through the crowd, then underneath Shikamaru's arm. A look of horror crossed her face at what she saw.

Hinata punched Gaara's leg again. "I want to know what happened!" She screamed at him. She broke down crying as she began to throw half-hearted punches at Gaara's leg again. Gaara quickly became fed up with this, as he grabbed her wrists, and yanked her into an upright position. She looked up into his cold green eyes. She was about to say something, when Shikamaru interjected with a thought of his own.

"I believe we passed the security room somewhere back through these holes. If the remaining shinobi from Otogakure would be so kind as to show us there, we might let them live." The sound-nins heard this, and listened, not wanting to face the wrath of the Leaf shinobi any more. They all backtracked through a couple of walls, when they came across the room with all of the TV's and computers. They argued among themselves for a bit, and then one shinobi stepped up to a large computer that was hooked up to an even larger television. He sat down in front of it, and began to click things on the screen. They heard him mutter "Got it" and then he clicked the "Display on Second Screen" button.

What they saw and heard was unbelievable as they watched Naruto put Orochimaru into a standing Full Nelson, and then proceed to transform into a nine-tailed half-fox. They watched as they compressed into the tiny ball, and they saw a bright flash of light. There was nothing after that, the camera had been destroyed in the explosion.

They stared at the screen in awe, tears streaming down Hinata and Sakura's faces as they began to cry. Shikamaru, his face set into emotionless neutrality, told the nin at the computer to make a copy of that on a tape or disk. After a few minutes, the nin presented him with a tape of the entire happening, and even a few extras that showed the whole day and all of what had transpired inside the compound. They even had some external shots of the explosion from some cameras outside of the compound.

After three day's travel, they arrived back at Konoha. They took so long because Hinata was exhausted, emotionally and physically, and was reluctant to move at all. Fortunately, they did finally get her moving, after telling her that Naruto wouldn't want her to sit around and mope. She still traveled slowly though, and the large combination group of Sound and Leaf nin didn't help all that much

When they got back, they were immediately shuffled into the Hokage's office, sound and all.

Hinata remembered the look on Tsunade's face as she looked at the motley crew of ninja stood in front of her, covered in soot, smudged in dirt, and burns and scrapes of varying degrees. When Tsunade realized that some of the ninja in front of her were from Sound, she nearly went berserk, but after the situation was explained, she calmed down. Hinata could also recall watching Tsunade's face as she watched Naruto's last moments, rewound it, then watched it again. The look of utter desolation stood out in her Hokage's eyes. She remembered being told to leave and tell no one what had happened, and that the sound-nin to remain in the office. She had gone home, and completely broke down, locking herself in her room for three days. After that, it was followed by emotional breakdowns and severe depression, and unable to be able to tell anyone, not even her sister or father that her fiancé was dead, no one could comfort her, because they didn't know what the problem was.

Hinata remembered the day the statue was commemorated, and the speech that Tsunade had given in memory of Naruto. It had started…

"Konoha, today is a day to celebrate! Orochimaru is dead!" It had been followed by an impossibly loud cheer. After a few minutes, the cheers began to die down, and she continued, "But today is also a day to mourn, for one week ago, Naruto sacrificed himself to kill Orochimaru." A hush fell over the crowd. No one had expected this. Naruto's friends, besides Hinata, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Gaara, all stared in shock at Tsunade. That's when Tsunade hit the play button for the giant screen behind her, showing the entire crowd what had happened. There was a collective gasp throughout the crowd as they watched Naruto transform into his nine-tailed fox form, and most of the crowd gave a shout as they saw Naruto and Orochimaru become a small ball, followed by a bright flash, and then it showed the explosion from outside. After the crowd had settled down, Tsunade had unveiled the 50 foot tall Naruto statue, which had made a couple of people laugh, actually.

Of course, for the next few weeks she had received sympathy letters, "I'm sorry"s from her friends, and surprisingly, a lot of support from her family. But no one could understand what she was going through, though their help did make her feel better.

Hinata walked out of the bathroom as her trip down memory lane had made her depressed, and went over to the now immaculately clean kitchen. She was glad that the owners of the apartment complex hadn't complained when she moved in after Naruto's death. She couldn't stand not being near things that reminded her of him. She also didn't pack much, because most of her clothing was already here. Hinata blushed, thinking that thought had sounded inappropriate. She imagined Sakura or Ino giving her a mischievous glance as they had their own interpretations of it. She and Naruto had never done anything of the sort! Yes, they cuddled a lot, and slept in the same bed, and (Hinata blushed at this) had done some very suggestive kissing, but they had never, ever, had done _it_! Sure, they had been tempted a few times when they had shared baths together, and they both _really_ wanted to, but they had agreed that they would do nothing until after the wedding.

Tears came to Hinata's eyes as she remembered that she would never be married. She new in her head that she should move on, because Naruto wouldn't want her to sit and mourn his passing forever, clinging to him even though he was gone. He would want her to be happy and find a new love.

She sighed, tears streaming down her face as she headed down the hallway towards the bedroom. She walked in and over to the dresser, where a myriad of pictures, ranging from Naruto's graduation as a genin (he even had the picture where he was wearing the body paint), to the Rookie Nine all standing in a group picture. She laughed at the picture of him and Rock Lee doing a "good guy" pose. She picked up a picture of her and Naruto kissing. She smiled as she remembered that day, the day where Naruto had announced their engagement to the world. A small picture had fallen out of it when she picked it up.

Hinata stared curiously at the picture, then blushed as she realized what it was. Somehow, without her knowledge, he had obtained a picture of her at the beach, wearing an _extremely_ skimpy two piece, showing more than hiding her rather large assets. She sighed, and set down the picture, opening one of the drawers on the dresser. She pulled out a pair of lavender silk pajamas. She put them on, then threw herself onto the bed. She crawled under the sheets, and snuggled her favorite pillow, which was bright orange with a bowl of ramen on the pillow case. It had been Naruto's favorite pillow too, and they would often get into large pillow fights over this pillow.

Tears began to stream down her face as she cried herself to sleep, a smile on her face as she remembered the blonde-haired goof that she had been in love with.

_**Early the next morning, outside Konoha**_

The birds chirped cheerily in salutation to the sun. A light mist had begun to form low to the forest floor as the dew began to evaporate. A small green locust began to stretch it's legs as it prepared for a long jump to the small bush that was across the path that led through the forest. The grasshopper, crouched preparing to jump when _Crunch!_, a large paw stepped on it. The paw was white, and the size of a man's hand. The paw led to a large leg, which led to an even larger body, the body of a huge fox, as big, if not bigger, than Akamaru. The fox had a conspicuous red spiral on it's forehead. Perched upon it was a man in a bright white cloak, his face hidden by shadows.

Next to the rider and his mount walked a samurai. The samurai was short, only about five feet tall, and his thick blonde hair made him even taller. Sticking almost straight up, his hair tacked on another six inches to the man's height. He wore a white/beige kimono, with a large black and red fox design on his back. At his side, he wore a wakizashi and a flask. On the opposite side, he had a tanto and a small pouch. Strapped to his back, the samurai had a _huge_ dai-katana; the blade was longer than him. His hands were mostly covered by the sleeves of his kimono. He reached up to scratch his cheek, revealing leather arm-guards with steel plating.

The three stepped out of the woods, and saw the walls of Konoha less than a quarter of a mile in front of them, two guard towers on either side of the large gate in the middle of the wall. A small grass snake slithered across the path in front of the fox. The large fox reacted quickly, pouncing on, then devouring the small snake. The rider shivered in disgust.

"Have I ever told you how much I hate snakes, Tetsu?" He said, addressing the samurai.

"Many, many times. Geez, I don't know how many snakes that makes. Thirteenth? Doesn't he ever get full?" Harada Tetsunouske said, looking at the fox. The fox quickly swallowed the last of the snake, and threw a glare at the short samurai.

"No, I do not, human. You best remember that when your sleeping." The fox said, whipping all nine of his tails back and forth. The fox glared at him hungrily. Tetsu shuttered.

"So, this is the famous Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The walls are friggin' huge!" Tetsu said with a smile, effectively changing the subject.

"If you think the walls are huge, you should see the actual city!" The cloaked man said, becoming excited, "The buildings are all like four stories tall, and all the food tastes really good, and the ramen is even better. Especially Icharaku's Ramen! I wonder how Ayame's doing? Ever since the old man passed away, I hope she's been able to keep the shop open…" In the process of all of his chattering, his hood had fallen down, revealing a spiky mass of blonde hair, cerulean blue eyes, and a huge grin on his face as he continued talking. Tetsunouske just shook his head, a smile of his own on his face as he watched his friend continue talking.

"It's probably good your back home, Naruto"

**All right, I'm bettin' you all knew who it was at the end, but hey, I don't care. Isn't Tetsu great? He rocks, I know, I created him. Wait'll you see the next chapter, where he kicks some major ass with his dai-katana.**

**And in all honesty… is it dai-katana or daitachi, I can't remember… someone help me…**

**R&R DAMMIT! I'll probably reply back, with something insincere and generic… **

**Hasta luego,**

**ChickenDeNoodleyNoodle The Third, The most youthful chicken of them all!**


	2. Chapter 2: Homecoming

**I can't believe it! I'm already finished with Chapter 2!! And I've already started on Chapter 3!!**

**And People, if it seems like I'm abandoning my other stories, I'm not. Right now, I'm suffering sever writer's block for those stories, and am unable to complete them. "Trapped" feels like it's finished, even though it's not, and I'm almost done with "Spirit World" Chapter 3. As for Sarutobi High, I'm still working on chapter two. I don't know why, but I seem to be unable to run out of room for this story, and A Broken Heart is so far the favorite of all of my stories.**

**And isn't Tetsu great? Though it may seem presumptuous, would someone be able to draw him for me? I have no artistic talent whatsoever, besides wild birds, and I draw a really mean stickman. Someone's offered to draw the fox already, and I think it's awesome that someone would voluntarily draw one.**

**This Chapter's titled too! I'll go back and title the first one, and I'll attempt to name the others after. Danke!**

**On with the fiction! **

**Chapter 2**

_Homecoming_

The Chuunin on top of the North Gate guard tower had been having a bad day. First, he had been nearly beaten to death when he had fallen through the sunroof of a building. The sunroof, unfortunately, had been letting light into the women's showers of the local gym. He hadn't been spying or anything, he had been just going to the Hokage Tower, and took a shortcut. How was he supposed to know that the glass of the sunroof had been really weak? Then, after he had just barely escaped alive, he had stumbled into the mission room, only to be assigned wall duty. And _then_, he received a letter from his girlfriend, Mamimi, that she was breaking up with him. He sighed, shaking his head. _To quote Shikamaru, how troublesome_, he thought to himself. And to add to his bad day, there were two figures off in the distance, standing there, doing something.

_No wait_, he thought, squinting. _Make that three figures, that guys riding on something huge._

He watched as the three figures began to walk towards the gate. Then, they began to speed up. Soon, they were running, and then sprinting, the short guy keeping up with the rider and the huge thing. They were quickly approaching the gate, and he prepared to go down to ask them their business. They were about fifty yards from the gate when the Chuunin landed.

"Please state your name and business in Ko…." He was cut off as the rider in the white cloak and his mount jumped over him, then proceeded to jump _over_ the wall, and the little guy ran around him, and jumped back and forth between the two towers until he reached the top and followed the other two. The shocked Chuunin quickly reached for his radio, and pressed the talk button.

"All guards, we have two unknowns running who made it through the gate. One's riding a huge… fox-thing, and the other is a short samurai with crazy hair and a really huge katana strapped to his back. Both are assumed to be dangerous." He spoke quickly, and put away the walkie-talkie. He began to run, and ran up the wall to the tower. He reached the top, and searched for the two men. Unfortunately, he couldn't see anything, for they were long gone.

"Damn, Kube, you jump high!" Tetsu exclaimed, his arms folded behind his head as he, Naruto, and the Fox walked through town, occasionally receiving glances as people watched the samurai, fox, and it's cloaked rider walk down the street.

"My name is not Kube, human. You know very well what my name is." The fox growled under it's breath.

"Seriously though, that was like a thirty foot wall back there, and you jumped right over it!" The short samurai said, spitting out a thorn he had been chewing on. It had been getting old and finally split. He pulled out another of the three-inch long thorns from a small case in his pocket, and stuck the non-pointy end in his mouth and began to chew it, a look of contentment on his face as the fruity sap leaked into his mouth.

"What's this? A chibi samurai in a ninja village? How odd." Said a voice from behind them. Tetsu stopped in his tracks, and the fox followed suit.

"What did you say?" Tetsu asked calmly, his left eye twitching very slightly. His hand rested on the hilt of the wakizashi. He turned to face the voice. It was a tall ninja, about six foot five inches, and was bald. He had a smirk, a goatee, two scars on his left cheek, and a big one over his left eye. He wore his Leaf headband wrapped around his arm. His green Chuunin vest proclaimed his rank loudly, and his smug attitude announced his arrogance.

"I said, what're you doin' here Mr. Shortstuff Bushido?" The tall ninja stated, leaning over the short samurai, nearly getting stabbed by his crazy hair. A vein popped up on Tetsunouske's head, as his face turned red.

"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I'M HERE FOR! I'M HERE TO KICK YOUR ASS BECAUSE YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY THAT I'M SHORT!! THAT'S WHY I'M HERE YOU FREAKISHLY TALL BASTARD! I HATE GUYS LIKE YOU WHO THINK IT'S SO GOD DAMNED FUNNY THAT I'M A FOOT SHORTER THAN ALL OF YOU! OH YEAH, IT'S EVEN FUNNIER THAT I'M A SAMURAI TOO! LET'S ALL LAUGH AT THE SHORT SAMURAI!! WELL WHO'S LAUGHING NOW PUNK? WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?" Tetsu screamed as he went berserk, beating the ninja to an inch of his life with the sheath of the wakizashi, announcing each of his screams with the constant _thwack thwack thwack_ of the wood connecting with the ninja's body. He stood there panting, watching the twitching form of the man lying on the ground. He spat on him, and turned around, only to be met by a blade to his throat.

"I can't forgive you for what you've done to my buddy." Said the ninja with the kunai to Tetsu's throat. Naruto was nowhere in sight.

"Please remove your blade from my neck, sir." Tetsu said, glaring coolly at the masked ninja. The light reflected off the nin's goggles as he shook his head.

"Can't do that, sorry. You hurt my friend, now I have to hurt you." Apologized the masked nin, as he began to draw the kunai across Tetsu's neck. In a flash, the blade was cut in two by the samurai's wakizashi. The ninja stood, dumbfounded, staring at the half of the blade in his hand. The nin was then knocked unconscious by the hilt of Tetsu's sword connecting with his temple.

"Knew you could handle yourself," Said Naruto, as he and the fox walked out of the shadows of the building next to him. Tetsu whipped his flask at Naruto, and it smashed against his head, sending a purple juice everywhere, and staining Naruto's cloak.

"Gah! You not only abandon me, but you break my flask too? Bastard! Now I'm out of Drezznberry nectar! Damn it, you owe me!" Tetsu said, storming over to Naruto. He stood next to the fox, and glared up at Naruto. And he had to look _up_ to glare at him, considering that Naruto was six plus already, and Tetsunouske was only a few inches taller than the fox, he had to look _up_. (**A/N: Drezznberries, as delicious as they are, are not real, and are completely made up, there is no nihongo involved**)

All of the sudden, a group of ANBU surrounded them. The fox crouched, growling, while Naruto reached inside of his cloak. Tetsu, not knowing the significance of the ninja's animal masks, however turned to yell at them. He was about to start his rant about his dislike of ninja's and their height, and their cocky attitudes, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at Naruto, who shook his hooded head. Tetsu, taking the hint, turned around to face the ANBU nins again, and placed his hand on the hilt of the seven foot long sword strapped to his back.

"You two are to come with us. You are unlicensed and broke through the gate. We are taking you in for interrogation." Said an ANBU with a… squirrel mask. Tetsu was trying really hard not to laugh. But the female in the hawk mask stopped him from laughing with her comment to the Squirrel.

"A samurai? Doesn't look like one… he's a little too short if you ask me…" She whispered to the squirrel masked one. She turned, and froze in fear as she felt the tip of Tetsu's dai-katana press against the top of her mask. He stood there, holding it one handed, a look of anger and old hatred upon his features. As soon as the other ANBU realized what had happened, they all began to draw sharp implements from different places on their body. Naruto, however, burst out laughing. He couldn't contain it, it was just too funny. One little guy versus fifteen ANBU. Though he didn't doubt for an instant that Tetsunouske could wreak hell upon them, it was still just too funny.

"Take us to the Hokage please." Naruto stated, still laughing. The ANBU all looked at him, and then back to Tetsu. Tetsu grunted and brought back his sword, sliding it back into the clip on his back. The ANBU did not relax, now realizing the speed at which he could draw that huge sword. Naruto was grinning underneath his hood. Twenty minutes in Konoha, and they were already wanted men.

**A/N Sorry to interrupt the story, but just in case some of you are confused, only Tetsunouske knows that it's Naruto, no one else does. Only Tetsu… Only Tetsu… Oh yeah, guess who the fox is… nine tails… bad attitude…nick name's Kube… I wonder… And no, the guy in the squirrel mask is not Rock Lee. Lee is too awesome.**

As they all began to run towards the Hokage Tower, the ANBU avoided the large fox that Naruto was sitting on, because every time they went near it, it would snap at them. While they where running, Naruto chanced to take a look at the Hokage Mountain, and what he saw sent him and the fox into a skidding halt. There was some sort of giant statue up there, and it looked kinda familiar…

"What the hell is that?" Naruto asked, as the rest of their little entourage came to a stop in front of him.

"What's what?" The Squirrel-masked ANBU asked him, annoyed that they were stopping. He really didn't like things that didn't go his way.

"There, on top of the mountain," he said, pointing to the silhouetted statue. Damn, the familiarity of that thing was really bugging him.

The ANBU turned to where the cloaked man's finger was pointing. Once he realized what the stranger was pointing at, he smiled an invisible smile under his mask. The man was pointing to the statue of the hero of the village, of the whole world!!

"That is the Uzumaki Naruto Memorial, created in memory of the great hero!! The man not only had destroyed the Akatsuki single handedly, but returned Uchiha Sasuke to the village. I even heard he gave the Kazekage his powers back or something like that. That man was amazing! He…" As the squirrel-masked man continued on with his speech, reverence and something damn near close to worship clear in his voice, a look of awe spread upon Naruto's face. Tetsunouske threw a glance and a raised eyebrow to his friend, a slight smile on his face. He walked back to him, and motioned for Naruto to lean down.

"Looks like you did get that respect you were looking for, eh Naruto?" he whispered. Naruto could only nod dumbly as he stared ahead at the talking ANBU. His attention perked up for a second as he heard a familiar name.

"… and yesterday was Uzumaki Memorial Day. It's almost an inter-village holiday, even Suna celebrates it! And Wave country has an even bigger celebration than even us! Unfortunately Hinata-san wasn't able to give her speech last night, as she wasn't there at the mourning. She hasn't been the same since Uzumaki-sama died…"

It felt like a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped on his head at the mention of Hinata's name. She had changed? How? Naruto kept pondering those questions, wondering if she would be the same Hinata-chan she had been before he "died".

The ANBU stopped in his speech as he realized that the stranger was no longer paying attention, even though he was staring straight at him. Or at least he thought that he was staring at him. He couldn't tell because the hood was in the way, but he did notice that both he and the fox had gone stiff for some reason.

"Is something the matter?" He asked, taking a tentative step towards the fox and its rider. The fox let out a low growl, it's attention snapping back to what was in front of it. The fox's growl also brought Naruto to attention. The ANBU nin repeated his question.

"No, I'm fine. Let's keep going." Naruto lied, sitting up straighter on the fox's back. The squirrel-masked shinobi shrugged, and turned away from the curious man. They all began to sprint towards the Hokage Tower. They soon reached it, and the ANBU stopped moving. All of them were bowled over, however, when Naruto and the fox kept going, and Tetsu right behind them. The fox burst through the front doors, startling a group of tourists and the clerk at the desk, with the short samurai following right behind them. They ran down a short corridor that led to a gigantic set of spiral stairs that led to each of the eleven floors with a landing. They ignored all of the other landings though, heading straight up towards the eleventh. They reached there, and Naruto was forced to dismount from the fox, for the hallway was too short and too narrow to allow them both passage at the same time. The fox solved this dilemma, however, by transforming in a poof of smoke into a small, big-eyed, fox kit. It perched on Naruto's shoulder, somewhat like a parrot. Naruto patted it on the head with a grin, soliciting a growl from the now-tiny fox. Unfortunately, Tetsunouske had a problem too. His gargantuan (in reference to length, not width) sword was too long for the passage, and was forced to be unclipped from his back. He placed it under his arm, sharp-side down, and they began to walk forward, Tetsu's sword occasionally bumping into walls, leaving a trail of long scrape marks in its wake.

"Excuse me," Came a polite voice in front of them. They backed themselves against the wall to allow a raven-haired man pass them, his hairstyle reminiscent of a chicken's butt. Naruto stared at the man as he passed them.

"Teme!" He whispered, staring in disbelief. The man kept walking for a few more feet, then stopped dead in his tracks, recognizing the voice, even though it did sound somewhat different.

"Dobe?" Uchiha Sasuke exclaimed, whipping around to face Naruto and Tetsu. But… they were gone.

"Why'd you call ol' chicken head back there a bastard?" Tetsu asked, as they were sprinting at full speed down the corridor, which turned out had a corner a few yards ahead of where they had been, allowing for a quick escape.

"Long story Tetsu… do you remember me telling you about my childhood here?" Naruto asked as they turned another corner, only to be met by a second set of stairs, which ended at a pair of large double doors.

"Yeah… what about it?" the chibi samurai asked as they walked up the stairs, his sword now re-clipped to his back.

"Well, do you remember me telling you about my days in Team 7?" Naruto said as the reached the top of the stair case. They stood in front of the large double doors, Naruto waiting for Tetsu's answer.

"Uh huh… there was you… uh... Haruno… Sakura? Yeah, okay. And, um… let's see," Naruto stared at the extremely short swordsman as he pondered his answer. He began to sweat drop as the samurai seemed to take forever to think of the last member of the team… and Naruto's former best friend. A light bulb seemed to have flickered on Tetsu's face as he finally thought of the last person, "Uchiwa Saucepan!" He exclaimed. Naruto tripped on thin air, falling down the stairs as Tetsu stared at him. Naruto got up, shook his head, and walked up the stairs. When he reached the top, he stopped in front of Tetsu, who was looking up at the man. Tetsu didn't notice Naruto's hand twitching.

Shizune was just putting a new dress on Ton-Ton, when a large hole was blown through the door; a white form flew through the room, and through the door leading into Tsunade's office, followed by a slight explosion as he collided with the wall. A scream came from the room.

"What the hell?" shouted Tsunade as she woke up from her nap. Shizune noticed a man with a purple and white cloak step through the hole in the door. He was tall, around 6'7" maybe a little taller, but not by much. She picked up the pig laying on her desk, and walked over to the tall man. She noticed a small white fox on his right shoulder; it seemed to be… whispering something to the man.

"I'm sorry sir, but you can't go in without an app…" Shizune was cut off by the man holding up his hand.

"Don't worry, nee-chan, I have an appointment." Naruto said, pulling down his hood, revealing his face. Shizune stood there for a few seconds, then let out a piercing shriek as she fainted.

"Shizune? What's the matter?" Tsunade shouted, poking her head through the hole in the door. She saw a tall blonde haired man standing over Shizune, looking down at her.

"What the hell have you done to Shizune?" She shouted. The man stood up at her words. All of the sudden… he flickered out of existence.

"Obaa-chan?" Came a voice from behind her. She whipped around, and was met by the face of the man who she had called her little brother. He wrapped her in a tight embrace.

"OBAA-CHAN!!" Naruto screamed in joy, twirling the Hokage 'round and 'round, laughing the entire time. Tsunade just lay limp in his arms, being twirled about by the third person she had thought succumbed to the curse of her necklace. Naruto finally set her down softly on the ground, still laughing. She just stared up at him, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt the happy reunion, but could you help me up here?" Tetsunouske said, ruining the moment. One of his hands and his legs were sticking out of a pile of rubble. The two broke out of their thoughts to help the man out of the pile. They began by moving several large bricks which seemed to have created a small bubble that prevented the short samurai from being crushed. They then hoisted him out of the rubble, and let him stand for a second as he brushed himself off. Then he stood up straight, looked at Tsunade and nodded in thanks, then turned back to Naruto. Tetsu did a double take, and whipped back around to face the Godaime Hokage.

"What do we have here? A beautiful young woman! May I ask your name?" Tetsu said, grabbing Tsunade's hand and kissing it, causing her to blush and turn away. He continued to compliment her as she just turned redder and redder, tittering like a school girl. Naruto had to laugh too, as he watched the proceedings in front of him. He muttered something to the little fox perched on his shoulder, which seemed to snicker, as it leapt down and walked over to Tetsunouske. It hopped up onto his shoulder, and leaned into him, whispering something into his ear. Tetsu paled at what the fox said.

"You're kidding!" He said, his face turning whiter, the fox just shook its head. Tetsunouske looked at Naruto, who just shrugged, laughing.

"She may be older!" He said, laughing even more. Tetsu looked at Naruto for a few seconds, then took a step backward, away from Tsunade. He continued to back away from the Hokage, until he was just behind Naruto. The fox jumped from his shoulder to Naruto's, snickering the entire time.

"I feel dirty…" Tetsu muttered, shivering. Naruto laughed harder, wheezing and holding his sides. Tsunade looked crestfallen when she realized that the charming samurai had backed away. She sighed, telling herself that she'd never have a love life, unless she finally gave in to Jiraiya, which she would never do. The perverted idiot molested her enough already, she didn't need anymore.

"Well… that was… amusing." Naruto said, after he finally stopped laughing, breathing hard. Poor Tetsu! Misled by appearance! Amazing how the 60+ year old woman still appeared to be twenty! And… well… she had those rather… _prominent_ assets, which tended to steer a lot of men from the beaten path. Then, as if something just occurred to her, she turned to face Naruto, looking excited, and coming close to crying with joy.

"Oh my god… Naruto! We need to plan a HUGE celebration for your return! Then you can tell everyone about what you've been doing for these last five years, when everyone thought you were dead! Oh my… Sakura will so happy! She's been so depressed for so long… she really missed you, you know. And Hinata! She'll…" Tsunade stopped, seeing the look on Naruto's face. She had never seen so much sadness in one person's eyes.

"Tsunade-obaa-chan?" Naruto asked quietly, looking at her.

"Yeah?"

"I think I need to see someone first before we do anything." Naruto said simply, his eyes seeming to grow darker with the sadness by the second. She nodded solemnly, and Naruto gave a tiny, sad smile, and flickered out of existence again. Tsunade sighed, hoping that everything would be alright. Then, with a wicked grin, she turned back to Tetsunouske.

"Now, what did that little fox say to make you deter from your wonderful little compliments?" she inquired, cracking her knuckles. Both the Tetsu and the fox gulped, pure fear emanating from their very beings.

Hinata had just gotten out of the shower, and was just putting on a purple silk shirt with white flower patterns down the arms. Sakura and Lee and invited her to go out to lunch with them, as well as Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino, and she was contemplating whether to go or not, when she felt a presence. Not a malignant or unfamiliar presence, but this presence seemed to wrap itself around her in a warm blanket, comforting her in ways that she didn't know she could be or had been for a long time. Hinata stepped outside of the bedroom, and began to walk down the hallway, towards the presence, even though everything in her mind told her not to, because this was exactly like those terrible horror movies where the person steps into the room and is cut in half by some guy who looks like their old lover, or some such junk. But her heart, her very self, recognized this presence, and wanted to meet it. She stepped out of the hallway and walked pass the door to the threshold that led into the living room. She stopped, took a deep breath, and stepped through. What she saw shocked her.

There was a man standing in her living room! And he was wearing a large white cloak with a hideous purple stain all across the head and shoulders! She halted a barely a full step from the entrance watching the stranger, who seemed oblivious to her entry. She watched him, as he studied some pictures on the coffee table, picking one up now and then to get a closer look. She continued staring on, as he still seemed not to have noticed her. He walked absentmindedly towards the kitchen, staring at and touching everything he passed, picking it up, examining it, setting it back down, then continuing towards the doorway.

Hinata finally gathered up enough courage to walk after the man, stopping a few steps behind him, as he seemed to finally notice her. She held her breath as he turned his head towards her. Her eyes popped when the head did a full one eighty, turning to face her perfectly, as a few strands of long, dark, greasy hair fell out of the hood.

"_Hinata-chan_," The person hissed. It sounded sort of familiar, kinda like…

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, quivering, taking a step towards the man, tears entering her eyes as she thought about her dead fiancé, hoping beyond hope that this was somehow him.

"_Hinata-chan_," he hissed again, this time his body turning towards her. Hinata let out a cry as she threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around the person who she thought was Naruto.

"Oh Naruto-kun! You've come back! Oh, you've come back!" She shouted, crying into the cloak. She looked up to the man's face, which was still shrouded by shadows, as a curtain of the greasy black hair fell down around her. Her heart filled with dread, sucking away all of her happiness, as an evil laugh surrounded her. The man in her arms lifted his hands to his hood, and began to pull it back.

"_Oh Hinata-chan, how I've missed you!_" Orochimaru said, pulling down the hood, revealing his features. Half-burned and peeling away, his face resembled a twisted mask, as his wicked yellow, snakelike eyes stared from that both burned and flawless face. His tongue shot out of his mouth, and began to wrap itself around Hinata's feet. Hinata screamed, and screamed, and screamed as the world around her was enshrouded by darkness.

_"HINATA-CHAN!!"_

Hinata woke up screaming, as she was bodily shaken. She stared at the person holding her, seeing the bright white cloak that he wore. Her terrified eyes followed the arms up to the shoulders, which were covered by the same hideous purple.

"Hinata-chan?" the purple/white cloaked man said concernedly, the same shrouded face looking at her. Hinata screamed, as her dream of Orochimaru overlapped itself over the shrouded man. She made a couple of signs, and screamed out the name of a jutsu, sending the man flying backwards, smashing him against the wall. The man slowly slid down the wall, approaching the floor at a snails pace, leaving a very slight trail of red and purple behind him.

He finally hit the ground, and Hinata rushed over to see if the man was all right. She reached him and kneeled down, bending over the man's head. She began to quake in fear as she began to picture her dream again, replaying itself over and over in her head. She flinched as she pulled back the hood, slowly peeking out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to take a better look at what she had just revealed, and screamed louder than she had ever screamed before, as she looked at the face of Naruto.

She had killed Naruto!!!

**Oh yes… I thought the dream was brilliant, don't you? It came to me just as I was typing it, in fact, I had scrapped the original paragraph completely to rewrite it as the dream. It was going to originally be a mushy-gushy fluffy reunion, but I decided to give a little hell before entering heaven.**

**No, Naruto's not dead again! Why would I do that?**

**And poor Tetsu! How the appearances of women befuddle the minds of men! He was judging by appearance alone, and when he finds out her real age, he freaks out! MUHAHAHAHAHA!! Though if I did stick those two together, it would be a little disturbing, for Tetsu is around Naruto's age, give or take a year, and I believe that Tsunade dating a 27 year old would be effectively "robbing the cradle", even though Tetsu's all grown up.**

**And Tetsu will be receivin' some lovin', though, but I won't tell you who. A flower for poor Tetsu (wink wink, hint hint).**

**(Not Inuzuka Hana!)**

**Anyway…. I would love to receive constructive criticism, such as telling me if I made some grammatical error, or if some of my ideas are over-used or lame. I would really appreciate it! Because these are the first steps I take to becoming a professional writer, and I would like to learn what I'm doing wrong.**

**And I love positive reviews!! Though I don't really like the one liners that say "Good story, update soon!". I appreciate the encouragement, really, but I would also like something a little more helpful, such as telling me which ideas I use are original, or well-placed. Or telling me if my ideas are good or bad! Tell me something somewhat helpful!!**

**Like I said, don't like 'em but I'll accept them! I'm (what I believe to be described as) a Review Whore. I love reviews, and I'll take them whenever and however possible.**

**Not all that sincere, but does it really matter?,**

**ChickenDeNoodleyNoodle the Third, the most youthful chicken of all!**


	3. Chapter 3: If you cut the head off

**I first have to apologize before I do anything else…**

**With this chapter, I going to make it 5000 words, or else I would go through the story, and fix it so there would be five thousand words. Unfortunately, the story is almost exactly how I liked it, and there's probably plenty of room for improvement, but this how I wanted it, and sadly, there are only 4,398 words in the story's text. I'm sorry for cutting my fans short.**

**Second… response time!!**

**Anonymous guy Dymgo:**

**His question: "**was it Gai and Kakashi that were attacked by ur character?"

**My answer: No, it was not Gai and Kakashi, for they are far too awesome to even consider doing that. Gai would consider it "unyouthful" and Kakashi just plain wouldn't do it. Notice that one was bald and scarred, with a goatee, and the other wore a mask, but also wore goggles.**

**AnimeMaster: Thank you for your kind words. I always thought it would be hilarious if someone did fall for Tsunade's "little" age problem. I was laughing my ass off when I wrote that.**

**Moonlight71092: Gracias, senorita!! Now _you_ update!!**

**And much thanks to all my other reviewers!**

**Random Randomness…**

**Schools been hell recently… I've finally started getting my grades up, even though in all honesty I should be getting all A's in class, I'm just too damn lazy to do most of the work. That, and my school is full of jackasses. Not the teachers, no! But 96.8 of the students.**

**That and my parents getting divorced hasn't helped me emotionally much either. My dad has already got a new girlfriend. I like her but… I _don't_ like her. It's kinda hard to explain.**

**(sigh) Ah well…**

**On to the FanFic!!**

**_Chapter 3:_**

_Title: __If you cut the head off of a snake…_

_Oh sweet… ugh, my head! What happened…_, Naruto wondered to himself, as he slowly came into consciousness. His head was throbbing like someone had turned on one of those little instrument monkeys, you know, the ones with cymbals or drums, and had forgotten to turn it off. He realized that he was laying on something large and soft, but he was in to uncomfortable a position for it to matter. He groaned a little, and received a squeak of surprise in response. Naruto opened his eyes, a little surprised himself, and quickly shut them again. There was light shining directly on him, and he could see the little capillaries in his eyelids. The light was quickly replaced by a silhouette. He could feel little splashes of water hitting his face.

"N-Naruto?" the silhouette stumbled on her words. Naruto, recognizing the voice, opened his eyes wide.

He was met by the face of a pale-eyed angel, her raven-dark hair reflecting with a slight purple hue. Her head was outlined by sunlight, giving her an ethereal beauty. The angel eyes were filled with love, compassion, and relief as they rained tears upon Naruto's face.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked, already knowing the answer.

"Naruto!" Hinata wrapped her arms around his neck, as she cried into his shoulder. Naruto's eyes were becoming more and more moist, and soon overflowed as one of his arms encircled her waist and the other wrapped around her back, pressing her tight against him as they cried. The entire moment was ruined by the sound of the living room door exploding.

"Hinata-sama! Are you in here? There were reports of screams," Came Neji's voice. They could hear a couple of other voices too, their voices too soft to pick up any words. Hinata was too choked up to answer him, her face still buried in Naruto's shoulder. After a few moments of silence, they heard Neji say "Screw it!" and heard him mumble something. A few moments later they heard his voice again.

"I found her. She's in her bedroom, in the arms of… some man." There was a hint of disdain in his voice at the end of his sentence. They heard a second voice pop up.

"Ooooooo! Hinata's got a new love life? Who is he Neji? Can you tell?" Came Ino's loudness. Naruto was barely able to pick up a small _thwap_ as someone smacked her on the back of her head.

"Troublesome woman… why do you care about other people's love lives? Anyway, what makes you think that she's in a romantic relationship?" Shikamaru's bored tones scolded the loud blonde.

"Just because you and Temari don't have one doesn't mean others don't! And you heard Neji. He said she was in the _arms_ of some _guy_! He saw it all with his Byaku-thingy!"

"Byakugan!" Neji said, irritated.

"Your point?" Shikamaru asked boredly.

"I bet you anything that they were about to get it on!" Naruto heard another _thwap_, and he was forced to smile. Ino was so thick headed. She obviously hadn't changed while he had been gone.

"Will you two shut up for once? I think it's…" Hinata heard Neji pause, her tears finally stopping as she lifted her head from Naruto's shoulder.

"No fucking way." Both Naruto and Hinata froze. Hinata had never heard Neji swear before, and it was quite a shock, and Naruto froze because he didn't want anyone to really know he was here yet. But fate didn't grant Naruto's wish, as Neji kicked open the bedroom door.

"Uzumaki?" Neji said, staring at his once soon-to-be brother-in-law. Naruto sat up, and tried to move Hinata off of him, but she wouldn't let go. So he just sighed and picked her up, carrying her with him as he got off the bed.

"You sound a little emotional there, Neji." Naruto said, grinning. He felt something collide with the side that wasn't supporting Hinata, knocking him back a couple of steps. Naruto could feel Ino's tears soaking into his cloak, as he slowly stroked the top of her hair. Shikamaru just stood in the doorway, a slight grin of his own as he spoke.

"You had a billion to one odds of living through that jutsu. Of course, knowing you, those odds were enough." Shikamaru couldn't help but feel relieved. He had in part blamed himself for Naruto's death five years ago. But he should've known that a simple jutsu couldn't kill someone like Naruto. He could feel a tear slide down his face. _How troublesome, this is one of the few times that I've ever cried…_, Shikamaru thought as he looked on at Naruto, a girl clinging to his side and one hanging from his neck. Neji just stood to the side, staring at Naruto. Naruto also had tears streaming down his face as he was once again surrounded by friends.

* * *

"And who might you be?" Tetsunouske asked Ino, pressing her slender hand to his lips. About an hour after Neji, Ino, and Shikamaru came in, Tetsu showed up, covered in bumps, bruises, and a split lip, with a terrified fox kit hidden in his kimono, which seemed to be sporting similar injuries. He then told his sad story of how after Naruto left the Hokage's office, Tsunade proceeded to inquire as to what Naruto had told the fox to tell him. After she found out that Naruto had told Tetsu her real age, she swore that she would "Kill the little bastard" and proceed to royally beat the crap out of Tetsu and the fox. Naruto had asked the fox why he had not transformed back into the bigger fox, he was too shaky to answer. Then, Tetsu had noticed the blonde girl standing behind Naruto, who had been still holding on to Hinata. This led to the situation the five-foot samurai was in now.

"M-my name is Yamanaka Ino," She said, blushing. Ino giggled a little as she heard him mutter "beautiful" as he kissed her hand again.

"Did you know that the pig is one of the most intelligent of mammals?" Tetsu asked her, as he let go of her hand. Ino blushed a little deeper at the compliment, for once not taking any offense at being called "pig". Shikamaru scoffed, muttering that pigs were also one of the most stubborn. Ino socked him in the face, giving him a beautiful black eye, if you could call it that. Naruto decided to intervene by asking them to bring him up to date in the happenings of Konoha. Ino, ever the gossiper, reluctantly turned away from the amorous little samurai to help the other two with their explanations to Naruto.

"Tenten is pregnant again," Neji stated. Ino, not privy to this fact, squealed, asking Neji when she was due and making Shikamaru plug his ears in annoyance. Hinata even detached herself from Naruto to face her cousin to ask similar questions to Ino's, but not as loud.

"You guy's had three already, last I knew; and that was five years ago," Naruto pointed out. "Is this your fourth?"

"Eighth." Naruto stared at Neji in awe as Neji made it seem like the smallest thing in the world.

"Eight! Why you horny little bastard, you! Haven't you ever heard of a condom?" Naruto exclaimed, making Hinata blush because of the subject matter.

"Indeed I have, Naruto, indeed I have. And I find them… inconvenient." Neji said with a bit of a smirk. Hinata blushed even more at her cousin's response. Ino, however, disregarded it, having had a similar discussion with Tenten about their seventh child, and her response had been the same. Shikamaru just ignored them all, looking slightly bored in the process, as he stared out the window at the clouds. As he watched a rather interesting cloud, it was shaped like a giant dragon, or maybe some other serpentine creature, like a snake or something, said cloud moved. Not just moving across the sky as clouds do, but moved! As in living, animated movement! Its mouth opened wide, revealing long, lightning fangs, and it struck down, colliding with the western wall, obliterating it.

"Holy shit!" Shikamaru shouted, opening the wide picture window. He could see similar happenings on the floors below him, people's heads popping out of windows here and there. Naruto, Neji, Hinata, and Ino, never seeing Shikamaru lose his cool this badly before except for once, rushed over to join him, Tetsu following quickly behind him. They all saw a hail of objects rain up from near the snake, shuriken, kunai, fireballs, and other throwing objects and jutsus, and they all bounced off of its cloud body.

"No!" Hinata could here Naruto whisper as he stared at the giant serpent, as it started to strike down at the place where all of the weapons had come from. She felt him tense, and he began to move around.

"Tetsu, get ready. And I recommend removing the sutras." Naruto commanded, as he began to remove his cloak. Underneath surprised everyone but Tetsu when dropped his cloak to the floor, which revealed his black attire beneath. He had a large white fox embroidered into a silk shirt, or what looked like silk. It was actually a steel-tough fabric, able to repel kunai, shuriken, swords, and the occasional claw or two. The fox's nine tails continued over his shoulders and sides and went down to continue on his pants. The pants were of the same material, and the tails intertwined, weaving down his legs in an intricate pattern.

On his back were two slender, curved blades, their sheaths red and black, with a blood-red hilt and handle, with the carved head of a toad on one and the head of a fox on the other. His shuriken holster was replaced by two ankle sheaths with daggers of similar design, except white and black. Instead, his shuriken holster was now split in two, one strapped to each wrist, so he could grab two shuriken from opposite holsters for a double-throw. Sure, it wasn't as convenient as the thigh ones, but it worked.

Tetsu, instead of revealing any new clothing, just grabbed the hilt of his seven-foot long dai-katana. Suddenly, a bright light emanated from it. It stayed on for a couple of seconds, white lines shooting down the blade, then disappeared. Nothing had changed however, it just seemed… different. Like it had an aura or something.

For some reason, Hinata giggled a little at the sight of Naruto's clothing and his mismatching hair, which hung down just slightly past his ears, but still spiked. The bright yellow and the black just didn't seem to go together. Then something hit her… Naruto had just gotten back from the dead, and he could die again if he went out and fought that giant snake. She also realized that she hadn't seen or felt any of Naruto's equipment when he had held her, or she him. Hinata, ignoring the second thought, ran to Naruto and wrapped her arms around him.

"Naruto, Please don't go! You'll die again! I don't want to lose you twice!" She sobbed into his shirt.

"Hinata, I won't die. I can promise you that. I have never, and never will, betray the promises I make, for that is my nindo, that is my shinobi way." He said with a soft smile down at her. She looked up into his eyes, and started crying again. Naruto broke out into a grin. "Besides! What would you rather have, a living, breathing me, or a crushed and shattered Konoha?"

Hinata looked up into his smiling face, and had to give him her own little smile, as tears streamed down her face. She slowly let go of him, and took a step back. The small white fox hopped onto Naruto's shoulder. It looked a little agitated.

"You'll never guess who's snake that is…" the little fox whispered into his ear, his voice oozing with sarcasm. Naruto's grinning face transformed into one of grim determination.

"Oh, I know who's it is. That bastard of a snake won't get away another time!" Everyone looked at Naruto in surprise. Horror dawned on their faces as they realized whom Naruto may be talking about.

"Y-you don't mean Orochimaru, do you?" Ino said, quaking. The sheer thought of Orochimaru returning sent a shiver up everyone else's spine.

Naruto looked at them in shock, then laughed, surprising everyone. They all stared at him for a second, as the giant snake behind them continued to wreak havoc.

"No! No, not at all! That snake-bastard is long gone!" Naruto's laughter slowly died down, being replaced by the same grim determination, with a smidgen of hate alighting itself in his eyes. "No… it's that silver haired apprentice of his, Kabuto. He's been … experimenting, you might say." They were interrupted by an earth-shattering explosion. Everyone hurried back to the window, where they saw the Konoha Propane building in flames, most of it replaced by a crater.

"Alright, love to talk, but I gotta go, bye!" Naruto said, jumping out the window, the chibi samurai following closely behind him. Neji looked out the window, and realized just how close the snake was to the Hyuuga compounds, Hinata realized the same thing, and they looked at each. Neji nodded his head, and followed suit, leaping out the window and landing on the roof that was three floors down, and began to head towards the large manor. Hinata, after a moment, did the same. Ino and Shikamaru were left standing there, staring out at the carnage.

* * *

Tetsu was running through the streets. Naruto had already gone off to attack the snake, and had assigned him to evacuation duty. He had been pounding on doors, yelling at people to get out of there quickly. If people didn't believe him, he'd point to the thick black smoke pouring from the far west side of the town, and the giant raging snake behind it. That usually got them moving.

"Alright, six more houses and these apartments to go." Tetsu said to no one in particular, running up the stairs of the next apartment building. He burst into an apartment, number 777 to be specific. There was nobody there. He could see the drawers of the main bedroom open and disheveled, looking as if someone had rushed through them. He sighed in relief, realizing that the people had already packed up and left, and was about to go himself, when he heard a tiny squeak of a sound, just barely able to be picked up. He heard it again.

He followed the sounds, and it led to a small bedroom. The bedroom was bright yellow with pink and red shuriken and flowers scattered across the wall. Twisted sense of decoration, no?, Tetsu thought to himself, as he looked around. There was a little girl's bed in the corner, with a desk and a little diary that said on the cover "_Miaka's Diary!! Keep out or I'll beat you up!!_" Tetsu smiled to himself.

"Cute kid," He said, letting out a chuckle. But his amusement was interrupted by the sound again. Except this time it wasn't a squeak or squeal, it was a full fledged scream.

"_Mommy, Daddy!! Get me out!! I'm locked in the attic again!_" He could here the screams coming from inside the closet. They were the screams of a little girl, the sound muffled by the walls and door. Tetsu took a peek out the window, and sprinted over to the closet, seeing the giant cloud-snake getting closer, leaving a path of destruction behind it. He ripped open the closet door, and…

No one was there… then he felt dust sprinkle on his head as the ceiling above him rattled.

"Mommy! There's something big out the window! Get me out!" Tetsu was about to reach up to try and open the trap door to the attic, but not only was he too short, the door caved in. He heard the girl scream as she fell. And fall she did, right onto Tetsu's head.

"Mommy!" He felt the girl wrap herself around him. Being dizzy, he couldn't say anything to the girl without feeling like he was about to hurl. But fortunately, he didn't have to say anything, for the girl realized her folly a few moments later, when she realized that the figure she was clinging to was not only male, but was also too short to be either of her parents. She let go and jumped away.

"Stranger!!!" She screamed, as she assumed, or what she assumed to be, a defensive stance. Tetsu, slowly stood up, trying not to vomit as his vision sent the world spinning. As his vision cleared, he couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the little girl, who stood there, looking as dangerous as she could possibly be. If you consider a fluffy pink bunny to be dangerous. She held her arms above her head, and had one leg raised, looking more like she was about to do a cartwheel than attack.

An explosion outside distracted the little girl, and brought Tetsu to his senses. He quickly grabbed the girl, who let out a scream, and tucked her under his arm, rushing out the door in the process. He couldn't help but notice the giant vesper-gray body of the enormous snake only a tenth of a kilometer away. He felt the little girl pounding on his arm.

"Your not supposed to touch me there! Mommy said so!!" She screamed, angrily beating his arm with her small fists. He then realized his arm was around her chest. He sighed and quickly changed his grip to around her waste as he opened the door, which had been closed by the concussion of the earlier explosion. He stepped out into the hallway, and was met by three options. He could choose to run down the stairs, and into the main foyer, which happened to be right in front of the snake. Or he could either run out the fire escape door, or jump out the giant window in front of him. He stopped, and looked up at the ceiling twenty feet above him.

_Man, that ceiling is ridiculously high…_, Tetsu thought. He finally decided to head out the fire escape, eight feet to his right, when a sixth sense told him to jump straight up. He did so, and the little girl under his arm screamed as he heard a titanic crash below him. He looked down, and realized that there was no longer a building beneath them, having been swept away by the giant tail of the snake. He looked up in worry as the ceiling above him was coming closer at an alarming rate, him going up, and it going down. Tetsunouske reacted quickly, reaching for the hilt of his enormous sword. Using one arm, he maneuvered the squirming girl between his legs, where he clamped his legs together quickly, so he his second hand was available for a two-handed swing. Tetsu heard the girl scream "Eww! Boy parts!" As his face flushed red, and he swung his sword. The sword parted the stone, wood, and steel girders as if they were butter, creating a barely noticeable gash down the center of the roof.

Tetsu watched as it came closer, his sword still cutting through what was left of the top of the apartment building. _The gap isn't opening fast enough!_, Tetsu thought worriedly, as the probably tons-heavy ceiling came closer, and closer. Tetsu closed his eyes as he prepared for impact, grabbing the girl, who was wiggling even more, and wrapping her in his arms, curling in a tight ball, ready to crash with the ceiling…

Tetsu's eyes blinked open, as he sighed with relief. The roof had parted just barely enough to let them through. He looked down, and a pang of guilt went through his chest, as he looked at the remains of the three story apartment building below him, it's roof crashing into the ground, the rest of it dashed and smashed, it's ruins mixing with the bits and pieces of the other buildings that had been crushed by the swing of the cloud snake's tail. He hadn't been able to rescue the other people in the building, having decided to start at the top and work his way down.

They finally started falling down, and Tetsu noticed that there was no sign of the giant snake, anywhere. He sighed gratefully, thinking that Naruto had killed the thing. He finally touched down on the ground, landing with a soft _thud_. He stood up, looking around him, still feeling a weight on his chest. It was almost a physical thing. That's when Tetsu remembered he was still holding on to a squirming, wiggling, struggling little girl.

"Let me down you meanie! I'm going to tell my mama that you molesterd me!" She screamed, attempting to remove herself from the samurai's grasp. With a sigh of exasperation, Tetsu let go of the girl, hearing a satisfying _thud_ as she hit the ground. She got up, and looked at him, her eyes full of tears, and pouting like she had had practice doing it. She began to cry as Tetsu looked down at her.

_Well, don't I feel guilty._, Tetsu thought, feeling terrible for dropping the little girl. He sighed, and pulled out one of the three-inch long thorns from a hidden pocket, sticking it in his mouth. The sap was having a slight relaxing effect on the headache that was beginning to form. He kneeled down in front of the little girl, and sighed.

"Alright, twerp, listen up! We may've gotten off on the wrong foot, so let's start all over again." The little girl stopped crying, and looked up at the samurai. She sniffled, and nodded her head vigorously.

Tetsu sighed again, then put on a grin. "Hi! My name's Harada Tetsunouske! I'm a samurai!" He stuck out his hand. The little girl stared at it for a second, and grabbed it, a big smile on her face as well.

"And my name's Mitsurugi Miaka! I'm a ninja-in-training!" She said, as she shook his hand vigorously. Tetsu looked at his hand for a second, and noticed something… _his hand was only slightly bigger than Miaka's!_ Tetsu hung his head and let out a sob.

"What's the matter?" Miaka questioned, turning her head and body so she could see his face.

Tetsu was about to answer… when a large shadow fell over them. He heard a cool voice behind him.

"Why, so I finally find you Tetsunouske-kun! I've been looking everywhere for you and Naruto-kun, and I thought you had forgotten about me." The voice was cold, slick, utterly evil. The exact copy of it's former master.

"How could I ever forget you, Kabuto?" Tetsu said loudly, getting up from his crouched position. He gave Miaka a slight push. She was staring in fear at what was causing the shadow, and needed to be pushed a second time. She finally snapped out of her stupor, and took the hint for what it was… _get out of here!_

"Well, it's not you who I thought would forget, I was thinking that Naruto-kun would've forgotten. The intense heat and pressure of that jutsu he used, and being bashed over the head by giant snakes may have damaged his brain." Tetsu could here the smirk in Kabuto's voice. He turned around, and was surprised as he was smashed in the face by a fist. The punch sent Tetsu flying over a scrambling Miaka, and into a crumbling apartment, bringing what was left of the concrete construct to it's knees.

"As you can see, I brought one of my 'experiments' along." That sickeningly evil voice drifted over the rubble.

As the dust cleared, Tetsu stood up, and this time grabbed the fist that was going towards his head. He palled as he stared up into the face of one of Kabuto's "experiments".

"Kukukukukuku…" it laughed, it's tongue whipping out of it's mouth and wrapping around his neck. The "experiment" lifted Tetsu off his feet, it's slit, snake-like pupils showing the glee it felt at causing pain. Tetsu, using his free hand, grabbed the tanto at his side. The creature kept laughing, until it's tongue was cut off at the mouth. It screamed and fell back, clutching it's mouth and rolling around. Tetsu would have let out a sigh of relief as he hit the ground, but the tongue hadn't relaxed, and in fact, was squeezing harder, constricting his airways. He started sawing the tongue, trying to cut through the multiple layers of muscle before it was too late. His heart was drumming a staccato beat in his ears, and he was seeing spots.

Tetsu could feel darkness overtaking him, just as he cut through that last layer of tongue. He could feel the revitalizing oxygen flowing into his deflated lungs, expunging the darkness in his vision. He could here Kabuto's laugh over the pounding of his heart, and the 'experiment's' screams were finally beginning to quiet. Tetsu sat up, hoping that the thing had finally bled to death. However… he had forgotten that Kabuto was riding on a gigantic snake. As the enormous tail began to come down towards him, following a gigantic arc, Tetsu grabbed the hilt of his sword.

Kabuto was surprised, to say the least, when a bright flash of light and a section of tail flew off the snake.

"Gross!! I'm covered in snake slime!" came Tetsu's cry. Kabuto looked at the samurai, who was covered in a gray ichor, and was trying to shake it off. Kabuto flung himself towards Tetsu, who was hopping around, shaking himself like a dog, oblivious to the Sound-nin's movement.

"Why can't this thing have real blood? This is so …" He was cut off by a silver haired blur smashing into him. Tetsu went flying into a pile of rubble. He began to scramble out again, and was met by the gigantic head of the snake rushing at him. He reached back for his dai-katana again… only to find it wasn't there. Tetsu's eyes opened wide in fear.

"Oh shit."

Tetsu went flying. Flying one hundred feet, at least fifty of the feet being solid concrete. Tetsu lay there, ragged breaths shaking his body, his body a broken heap.

**So how'd you like it? Please tell me if something I did was wrong, or if something I did was _too_ OOC… I don't like straying from the personalities of the characters too much.**

**And if you have something better for Shikamaru to say… I'll probably use it. I don't like having him say "Holy Shit!!" It's not something that Shika would normally say, and I feel weird having him say it.**

**So please, please, PLEASE!!! Read and Review!!! R&R!!! Tap dance for crying out loud!! Leave some constructive criticism for the aspiring writer, please?**

**Not all that sincere, but does it really matter?,**

**ChickenDeNoodleyNoodle the Third, the greatest and most youthful lord of chickens in the world.**


	4. Chapter 4: On the uses

**4/9/07, 11:14 PM  
Record log of the completion of this chapter**

**3,083 words are in the body of this chapter, not including Author's Notes.**

**Stats for this fic:  
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**I finally finished it! Boo-yah be-hatches, you can't touch this!**

**Anyway, I apologize to you guys for taking so long to update this chapter, but I just never seemed to get around to finishing writing it! It sat in the same state for nearly a month, almost finished, but since I was too lazy to do anything with it, it just sat in stasis, waiting to be revived.**

**I also apologize for the length of this chapter. I wanted to make it longer, but it just seemed to be the perfect place to end. And trust me, I'll make it up in the next chapter.**

**This chapter is presented to you raw and unedited. If someone would like to clean it up for me, and apply for position as beta, I would greatly appreciate it.**

**Anyway, enjoy yourselves as you read the addictive drug that is my writing.**

**On with the FanFic!!**

Chapter 4:  
On the uses of friggin' huge swords and berserker fury

Naruto could see the snake a mile ahead. Somehow, it had gotten way in front of him, and it had left a thousand smaller snakes behind it, which had tied him up for a bit. The thing had grown somewhat smaller, probably because of some sort of time limit on the jutsu, or something like that. He could also see the small dust cloud made by Tetsu's crash. He only hoped he could get there before it was too late as he and the fox's speed increased.

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Screaming. He could hear screaming. The screams of a little girl to be specific. Tetsunouske shook his head, trying to remember where he was, and why his body was just one giant mass of pain. His head was pounding, and he could feel blood trickling slowly in several places. The short samurai was forced to open his eyes to find the source of the screaming. He squinted at the bright sunlight, and when his vision dimmed enough to where he could see, he was met by a scene of mass destruction.

There were crumbling buildings and destroyed homes all around him. Smoke was pouring out of several of them, and a roaring fire had started a ways away. He tried to find where the screaming was coming from, but found that it hurt too much to move his head. But the sounds of the screams became clearer, forming into words instead of just one sound.

"Don't hurt him! He's my fwend!!" Miaka's shouts drifted over the ruins. Tetsu sat bolt upright, but instantly regretted it, as he felt a rib crumble under the pressure. He squeezed his eyes shut in pain, and a few tears squeezed themselves out.

"What an annoying little girl." _Thunk!_

Tetsu's eyes shot open. He stared in horror at what was only a hundred feet away, the kunai embedded in Miaka's forehead filling him with sorrow, and a rage that shouldn't be allowed in a mortal being. He didn't hear the slight _Poof!_, and he thought that the puff of smoke coming from behind the column, the one Miaka's body had flown into, was just a dust cloud from the collision.

The rage was overriding the pain. The hatred was overriding his doubts. The bloodlust that began to fill him was fueled by this rage, this hatred for the silver-haired bastard that killed Miaka, the little girl whose life he had saved, the little girl whom he had befriended. Dark red energy began to emanate from the rock that was only mere feet from Tetsu, showing him where his sword was.

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Kabuto felt a presence behind him. He whipped around, and was barely able to bring his kunai up to bear as the dai-katana sliced downward upon him. Fear and shock entered his eyes as the katana cut through his kunai like nothing, and continued it's frighteningly fast descent towards his face. He was barely able to dodge out of the way, and ended up sacrificing his serpentine mount, as the blade bit into the brow, and continued through, cutting through the brain, and stopping at a pair of sandaled feet. Kabuto followed the feet up, watching as they became a tattered kimono, to a pair of blue eyes that were so filled with hatred, they had almost become an icy-white/blue. The shocking eyes led to an angry mass of extremely spiky blonde hair.

"You shouldn't be able to move." Kabuto stated, breathing hard, staring at Tetsu.

"Shouldn't I?" The voice came from behind him. Kabuto blinked, and the samurai in front of him disappeared. _There is no possible way he could be that fast!! He left an after-image!,_ came Kabuto's thought, as leapt forward, his eyes wide with shock. He didn't escape completely however, as the dai-katana caught his ankle, removing the entire foot in that one clean swipe.

Kabuto screamed as he hit the body of the snake, and rolled off, clutching the decapitated stump that was left of his foot. Tetsu stood there, his face expressionless, his eyes sinking back into a darker blue, as he stood on the tip of the dead snake's nose. He stared down at the fallen man, who was rolling around so pitifully. He looked over to the still standing column, which stood practically alone twenty feet from the snake's body, where he could see the form of Miaka's body lying in the shadows. A tear ran down the side of his face.

Tetsu's face contorted with hate, and his eyes became that ice blue/white again, his sword emanating the same dark energy as before. He looked back at where Kabuto had been, and realized that he no longer lay there screaming. In fact, there was a blood trail that seemed to lead under the snake, along with scuffmarks from the nin's shoes.

The samurai leapt down, not feeling the pain from his shattered ribs and the various throbbing of other broken and bruised bones he had acquired as he landed next to the place where the sound-nin had been. He followed the blood trail up to the snake's body. Upon closer inspection, a long slit was revealed, wide enough for a man who wasn't very large. He frowned and drew his sword, making a clean square cut in the flesh of the snake. Tetsu watched as the skin fell away, a rush of gray ooze following it, revealing the innards of the snake.

It was quite dark, and rather hollow, Tetsu discovered when he stepped inside. He could see very little that wasn't already revealed by the meager light that streamed in. When he took a step forward, he could feel things squishing beneath his feet. He was about to move deeper into the cavity, when he was sprayed by the thick gray gooze that was the snake's blood. He stared at a small tube on his left that ran inside the snake's skin. Tetsu supposed it was an artery or vein of some sort that had had pressure building up, and so released that spray of "blood". He nearly shrugged it off, when he was hit by another spray. Staring at it in surprise, and spitting some of the ichor out, he was about to pass it off as a secondary pressure release when he was sprayed again. And again, and again, until it was pulsing regularly.

Tetsu stared, realizing that the gray blood was pouring out of all of the various veins and blood vessels in the skin, almost as if the heart was beating… almost as if the snake was alive.

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At Naruto's command, the fox brought itself to a halt at the edge of one of the few standing buildings that were left in the area. Naruto could feel something tingle in the back of his mind, a sort of sixth sense that told him something bad was about to happen. He had learned over the years to trust that sixth sense, as it had saved him many times from certain death.

He looked down upon the torn up battlefield below. Torn up buildings, food and produce from street carts and stands spilled everywhere, and a gigantic fire raging in the distance, leaving a trail of destruction behind almost as bad as the snake's.

Speaking of which, he couldn't see it anywhere. He looked all across the battlefield, finding no sign of the snake, except for deep trenches where its body had struck. He looked about, seeing nothing but destruction. Naruto hung his head. He could've swore that the snake hadn't moved at all.

Rubbing his temples, trying to massage a headache that was beginning to form, he opened his eyes and let out a sigh of exasperation. He couldn't find the snake, there was no sign or word from Tetsu, and for some reason the building beneath him was shaking like crazy…

Naruto's eyes shot open, his sixth sense blaring in the back of his mind like a tornado alarm._ Dammit!,_ He thought, screaming at the fox to jump to the next building. The fox ran to the edge, and made for an enormous leap to the neighboring building.

The building beneath them erupted, a gigantic serpentine neck shooting out of it, spewing rubble everywhere. Naruto and his mount crashed into the wall of the neighboring building, leaving an imprint and a spider web-like crack where they made impact.

"_Why, Naruto-kun! I never thought I would ever catch you off guard!_" A loud hiss entered Naruto's ears as he and the fox fell to the ground. They hit, and rebounded, jumping twenty feet onto the top of one of the smaller buildings as the snake crashed into the ground behind him.

Naruto whipped around and put his hands up, catching the snake just before it crashed into him. Holding its straining maw apart, he began to push the head to his left, attempting to deflect the snake. Suddenly, something on the head of the snake caught his attention.

There was a face! Right in the forehead of the snake, where a large gash, deep enough to cut through the brain parted the skin and bone. The face… it was familiar. It appeared to be protruding through the skin. The face looked as if it were wearing some sort of eyewear, and it had a creepy grin.

"_Prepare to die, NARUTO-KUN!" _the face screamed, the head of the snake whipping up and baring its fangs. It threw Naruto and the fox off balance, sending the fox stumbling forward, and flinging Naruto off its back.

The snake and the parasite in its forehead, in attempt to weaken Naruto, went after the fox, biting down hard. The fox whimpered for a moment, then appeared to grin, as it coughed up blood.

"Shouldn't… (_hack_) have done… that…" the fox coughed, splattering globs of blood on the ceramic tile roofing. The parasitic face shifted, turning towards Naruto, watching him as he stood up. The snake remained motionless with the fox in its mouth, waiting for its passenger to tell it what to do next.

Naruto brushed his pants off, dusting it thoroughly. The head on the head glared, wondering why Naruto didn't seem to care. He was fully surprised when Naruto looked up at it with a mischievous grin on his face.

"You know… he was right. You shouldn't have done that." Naruto said, as he felt a sudden warmth in and on his stomach. He laughed as the face contorted in confusion, the head of the snake turning to bear upon Naruto. Naruto just laughed and pointed, gesturing for the parasite to look at his mount. Disgustingly, the head shifted its position, sliding down the snakes face until it rested like an unsightly (and rather disgusting) pimple upon the snoot of the snake. It stared at the white fox's body quizzically, wondering what the blonde was talking about. Suddenly, fear entered its eyes, as it watched the fox seem to dissolve in front of it, becoming tiny little particles that appeared to be floating towards Naruto.

"Do you happen to know who you just attempted to snack on?" The blonde said, his mischievous grin becoming a feral one. One of his cobalt eyes shifted to red as he watched the face come to a realization.

"_N-n-no! This cannot be! It _cannot_ be!_" it hissed in horror, watching as the last of the fox disappeared. He turned to watch Naruto, fearful of what was about to happen. It seemed as though Naruto had taken off his shirt and pants, leaving him in nothing but his knee-length undershorts. A familiar orange-red spiral began to twirl itself around his stomach, finishing in an odd, swirly sun pattern.

"**The Kyuubi no Youko.**" Naruto's voice was suddenly deeper, his whisker-marks thickening. His eyes still stayed, one red, one blue; but the rest of his body changed subtly, his fingernails lengthening, and a demonic red chakra began to spill from his body. Not in great volumes, but enough. He was attempting to restrain it, after having the Kyuubi separated from his body for such a long time. Had it really been three years since the last situation called for this? He stopped his reminiscing, focusing back on the snake as it reared back in fear. It rose high into the air, preparing to strike. Its head struck down with lightning speed… suddenly it stopped, a hint of silver poked out from ten feet below its head. It looked down at the silver sliver, and with a bright flash, the head was parted from the body. The head crashed down some eighty yards away, and the body began to tremble. The massive body was beginning to fall!

Naruto jumped out of the way, landing on the street below as the gigantic corpse crashed down right on top of where he had been, his body de-forming. His eyes remained the same though, one red and one blue. He watched as the body writhed erratically in its death-throes, his vision focusing on some movement coming from the opening that bisected the corpse. A large gray blob with a sword was flung out of the gaping hole that was the snake's neck. It landed hard, but quickly stood, shaking itself off and sending thick gray blood-stuff everywhere. Naruto was suddenly staring into the face of a very pissed off Harada Tetsunouske, who's hair was looking even more ridiculous as it was being dragged down towards the ground, now hanging around his mid-back. His sword was dragging on the ground, and he appeared to have lost his wakizashi, and his tanto, and his bag… in fact, the only thing he still had were his clothes and sword.

"I am NOT going in there again! It's DIS-GUS-TING!!!" Tetsu shouted at Naruto, pointing at the corpse. It was then that Naruto noticed there was something soft and squishy that seemed to be attached to Tetsu's foot. Pointing it out to Tetsu, Naruto watched as the short samurai looked down at the offending squishy with confusion. Realization and horror crossed his face as he realized what it was.

"Oh god damn… that is SO GROSS! Get it off, GET IT OFF!!" Tetsu screamed, shaking his leg wildly and jumping about like a crazed gibbon. Naruto laughed at the 5 foot tall samurai's antics, watching him panic over his hatred of all things disgusting and slimy. Hell, Tetsu was still reluctant to ride on the toads whenever Naruto summoned them, though he and Gamakitchi had struck off an odd friendship. They would strike up conversation, but it was rather strained as Tetsu attempted to keep a distance between him and the little orange amphibian, who wanted nothing more than to find out if Tetsu's hair was as soft as it looked.

Naruto's sixth sense blared again as he whipped around to face the shadowed pillars of the building next to them, his body prepared for another attack. But he calmed, almost laughing at his reaction at what he had been so tense about. There was a little girl with bright red hair standing behind the pillar, watching him warily. He smiled at her, crouching down and making gestures, asking her to come over, to not be afraid. The blonde smiled at her as she took a few steps beyond the pillar, throwing wary glances to the still-twitching snake corpse.

Suddenly, a yellow and white form, blurred by speed, tackled the child, knocking her to the ground. Naruto almost attacked, when he realized that the form was none other than Tetsu, who appeared to have the girl in a death-grip hug.

"Detsu…nii-chan! Can't breeve!" Miaka choked out as she was nearly squeezed to death by Tetsu's embrace. She felt him relax his grip, but he still held onto her shoulders, as he looked her in the eye.

"How did you escape? I saw a spear you in the forehead and send you flying behind a brick wall. I went into a psychotic rage because I thought you had died!" He asked the fiery haired girl, who had the good graces to look apologetic that she had made Tetsu worry.

"Uhh… well… I'm dat amazing?" She said questioningly, smiling a little and hoping he would find it a little bit funny. The glare that said 'don't-give-me-that-crap' put out all of her hopes though, as she continued to explain further.

"Uhh… what's da name… um… Karunumi no Jutsu?" She asked, hoping she got the name right. Tetsu, however, didn't know the names of many jutsu, only knowing a few of the names of the ones Naruto used most often, so he couldn't correct her. Tetsu felt the pressure of Naruto's hand on his head as the man leaned over him. For some reason a twinge of pain went throughout Tetsu's body.

"I think she means Kawarimi no jutsu, the replacement technique. It switches the body with a nearby object that is roughly the size of the person or thing being replaced. How old are you little girl?" Naruto said to the samurai, then turning his attention to Miaka, who was staring at him warily, watching him and his still mismatched eyes.

"My name's Mitsurugi Miaka, and I am not a wittle girl! I'm six years old, I'll hab you know!" She said, huffing and putting her hands on her hips. She didn't notice Naruto's look of surprise as she told him her age, but she did notice that he was smiling widely.

"Well, aren't you the talented little girl! Most first year academy students can't even pull that off, and most of them are eight or nine!" He said, laughing at the look of shock on Miaka's small face. He took his hand off Tetsu's head and crouched down, asking her if she knew any more of the basic jutsu.

Tetsu watched the two begin to exchange ninja banter, Miaka asking Naruto questions, and Naruto answering them. However, he paid little attention to this, as his body began to grow more and more sore by the moment. Naruto seemed genuinely surprised by something, and much didn't surprise the man. What surprised him, Tetsu didn't know, but what he did know is what was finally causing him pain. His adrenaline was finally wearing down, and the broken bones in his body where beginning to make themselves aware, not to mention the bruises, cuts, and various other ouchies and injuries.

The last thing he noticed was that Naruto was shouting his name as blessed unconscious finally overtook his battered form.

Once again, I apologize for the length of the chapter, but like I said, I'll make it up for you guys in the next one, which I plan on having out in about a month's time. 

**And for you guys who are reading my other stories, don't worry, they'll be updated soon, I swear on it (epecially Naruto's Dead! and Project 5776, so don't panic!).**

**Stastics of: _Harada Tetsunouske_**

**Name: **Harada Tetsunouske**  
Age: **27**  
Height:** 5 feet (60 in; 152.4 cm)  
**Weight:** 106 lbs  
**Home Country: **Rose Country  
**Date of Birth:** 12/12

**Next Chapter:** A bit of Tetsu's history, and Naruto and Sakura's violent reunion!

**20 extra IQ points for: **AnimeMaster168, Redninja44, Trapedsoul, Maned Wolf Goddess, The Norwegian Dragon, Silent Tiger, Dmygo, MiseryluvsDeath aka Fidele, seldom, Brandrag, Hagensen, ninetailedbeast97, and lifesaver9293!

**Thanks you guys for reading!  
R&R D**


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